National Cancer Survivors Month
- cubbagecamryn
- Jun 2
- 5 min read
This year, I learned that June is recognized as National Cancer Survivors Month. Before November of last year, at hearing my own cancer diagnosis, I had no reason to know this. Now, it feels like my world has shifted to become a microcosm of cancer research, awareness, and resources. I have joined Facebook groups for people with my type of leukemia. I have signed up for subscriptions to magazines geared towards those surviving cancers of all kinds. I have subscribed to newsletters, followed other survivors and doctors on social media, read countless articles about cancer survivorship, nutrition, chemo treatment, wellness, and any other matter of palliative care. Over the last 7 months, I have been made aware of struggles and challenges I had never had a reason to know about, let alone understand or relate to.
After a cancer diagnosis, life changes. It isn’t just the urge to contemplate my own mortality, or consider my lifestyle choices that could’ve been the cause of me ending up here. It isn’t just about the countless medications I shovel into my body every day, and the thousands of dollars it costs to do so. It isn’t just about how many doctors I now see and keep contact information for on hand, how many tests are run on me, or how many appointments I have every single week. It isn’t just about how my health now affects those around me and who are tasked with my care, or how my condition weighs on the minds of those who love me. It isn’t just about the time I have to take off work due to my bad days or the plans I have to change because I am not up to it. It isn’t just about the changes and modifications I have to implement to make life livable, safe, and comfortable. It isn’t just about the physical limits I now have, or even the limits I’m willing to challenge and push myself for. It isn’t just about my faith in a God who I know holds me in His hands and cares for me, whether I am sick or not. It is all of these things, and a hundred other small shifts in my awareness and my life that combine to come together and brand me as a “cancer survivor,” despite the fact that I am still living with this disease.
As I reflect on what this means for me, I am driven to think about the impact of these things on my life. The thing that often stands out to me most, is my desire to spread awareness– to spread knowledge. Lives are changed and saved when knowledge and truth are shared. While my particular diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia does not have any direct known causes, early screening and detection is still a huge help in diagnosing cancers of all kinds. It is my desire this month to bring light to the need to talk to your doctors, and take your health into your own hands.
I spent months experiencing symptoms that I did not know could be cancer. I was not “sick” as many people think of, but I was experiencing things like dramatic, unexplained bruising, fainting, and nose bleeds. I thought they were a side effect of a medication, so I just went about my life as usual, and decided not to bring any of it up to my doctor. Had I known that all these things could have been symptoms of leukemia, while not much for my particular treatment would have changed, I may not have had to spend a week in a hospital having 100% of my blood content literally removed over the course of hours and hours, and cycled through my body to filter out my abundance of white blood cells. While that process isn’t quite as horrific as it seems, but it is a particular brand of creepy and uncomfortable that I had not yet experienced in life.
I cannot stress how knowledge of cancer screening, symptoms, and prevention, as well as the courage to actually discuss my experience with a doctor, would have helped me and countless others. As you all have been with me since my diagnosis, maybe you’ve kept up with my posts on social media, or you’ve asked me directly. Maybe you’ve asked my parents or my friends. However you have learned about my journey with chronic myeloid leukemia, I encourage you to not make the mistakes I did. If you have strange symptoms that don’t quite make sense, go see a doctor. Health care is one of the large schisms in our political landscape today, and I know that doctors are not always easy to get to. However you can though, I would urge that you not wait. I would encourage you to ask questions and demand the time owed to you by medical professionals. They are busy and trying their best, but your life is worth it. Do not let it fall through the cracks. Throughout the month of June, I ask you to think about those in your life you’ve known with cancer. Those who have not only survived it, but those who have passed on. Their lives matter. Their care matters. Cancer is no joke, and believe me when I say it changes everything you know.
This June, read an article or two about cancer prevention and early detection. Watch a video about how to check yourself for certain cancers. Talk to your doctor about your risk factors and family medical history. Donate to a survivor who is in a time of need. Pray for those in your community who are suffering with this infliction. Check up on those you know who have or had cancer. Ask your friend who has lost someone if there is anything you can do for them. Ask questions about treatment, detection, tests (I for one have found that I love sharing about my health journey). I desire for people to be educated so that lives can be changed for the better.
If you, like me, didn’t know that June was National Cancer Survivors Month, you do now. Take from this knowledge what you will–but think about the ways in which your life, and the lives around you can change for the better when you are prepared and educated about cancer. Cancer survivorship isn’t just about beating a disease or living with one–it encompasses the entire journey of health, self-reflection and awareness, and education/knowledge. It includes your friends, your family, and your entire community. For those who have not been touched by cancer, I pray you never are, but I would encourage you especially to take knowledge and preparation into your own hands. For those who are survivors, or love any survivors, I pray you a journey of wellness, healing, peace and understanding. For those who have lost loved ones to this terrible disease, I pray you are able to have pride for how strong your loved ones were to have dealt with this struggle. I also pray you are comforted in your grieving, wherever you may be at in that process. As you think on National Cancer Survivors Month, learn what you can do, share knowledge and news, and change lives.
For information about survivorship, check out these links:
National Cancer Survivor Month | The AACR https://www.aacr.org/patients-caregivers/awareness-months/national-cancer-survivor-month/
Cancer Survivorship - NCI
For information about cancer in general, take a look at these resources:
End Cancer As We Know It | American Cancer Society
Early Detection Saves Lives: The Essential Cancer Screenings You Can’t Afford to Skip - Cancer Research Institute
Prevention, Cancer Screening, and Early Diagnosis
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